Pressing and ironing apparatus



May 23, 1967 J. o. HUEBSCH, JR

PRESSING AND IRONING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 29, 1965 f/VVf/VT'OR Joseph 0. Yueb$c 2,JZ' ia/Mm Patented May 23, 1957 3,320,689 PRESSING AND IRGNING APPARATUS Joseph 0. Huebsch, Jr., Milwaukee, Wis assignor to Mc- Graw-Edison Company, Milwaukee, Wis, a corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 29, 1965, Ser. No. 491,249 Claims. (CI. 38-25) This invention relates to apparatus for ironing or pressing laundry, dry cleaning and the like, and, more particularly, for pressing or ironing wearing apparel.

When an article of wearing apparel is ironed or pressed by means of hand irons, it is periodically necessary to place the iron aside and rearrange the garment on the ironing board as the various portions of the article are pressed. This procedure was simplified somewhat by vibratory ironers of the type comprising a stationary iron and a pad which rapidly moves into and out of engagement with the iron wherein the operator was free to use both hands to manipulate the garment between the iron and pad. The latter apparatus was not entirely satisfactory, however, because of the difiiculty in maneuvering the work piece on the vibrating pad. This was further complicated by the fact that the pad of such devices was relatively small thereby necessitating substantially continuous movement of the garment.

It is an object of the invention to provide a vibratory ironer having a vibrating iron portion and a pad portion mounted for movement generally normal to the direction of vibratory movement.

A further object of the invention is to provide a vibratory ironer wherein the area of the pad portion is substantially larger than that of the iron portion.

These and other objects and advantages of the instant invention will become more apparent from the detailed description thereof taken with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view illustrating the preferred embodiment of the instant invention;

FIG. 2 is a view taken along line 22 of FIG. 1; and,

FIGS. 3-6 illustrate alternate embodiments of the instant invention.

In general terms, the invention comprises the combination of an ironing portion and a pad portion mounted for relative movement into and out of pressing contact with each other and means for imparting a rapid vibratory movement to the ironing member, characterized in that the pad portion is several times larger than the ironing portion and is mounted for movement normal to the direction of vibration.

Referring now to the drawings in greater detail, FIG. 1 shows the pressing or ironing device 10 according to the instant invention to include a stand 11 for supporting an iron assembly 12 and a vibratory assembly 14. In addition, a pad 15 is mounted for sliding movement on a pad support assembly 16 which, in turn, is pivotally mounted on the stand 11.

More specifically, the stand 11 includes a base 18 and a vertical post 20 which pivotally supports a relatively long rod 22 at its upper end. The rod 22 is pivotally connected intermediate its ends to the post 21) by a suitable bearing 21 and is coupled at one end to the vibratory mechanism 14 and supports the iron assembly 12 at its other end.

The vibratory assembly 14 includes a motor 23 mounted on a platform 24 suitably afiixed to the post 20 below the rod 22 and extending generally horizontally away from the iron assembly 12. A short arm 26 is affixed to the motor 23 output shaft 28 for rotation therewith. The other end of the arm 26 is pivotally connected to one end of a link 29 and the other end of which is coupled by a pin 30 and a slot 32 to the one end of the rod 22. It

will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that while one particular type of vibratory mechanism 14 has been illustrated and described, any well known type of mechanism for producing this result may also be employed.

The iron assembly 12 includes an iron 34 having a sole plate 35 which is heated in any suitable manner well known in the art, such as, electrically or by steam. The iron 34 is carried at the lower end of the rod 37 which extends upwardly through an opening 38 formed adjacent the other end of lever 22 and through a sleeve 40 disposed in a head 4-1 suitably afiixed to said lever 22. The upper end of rod 37 is externally threaded for engagement with the internal threads of a positioning nut 42 rotatably mounted adjacent the upper end of the head 41. It will be appreciated that rotation of the nut 42 will move the iron 34 vertically relative to the pad 15 to thereby change the ironing pressure between the iron sole plate 35 and the pad 15 when vibratory motion is resumed. A key 44- affixed to the sleeve 40 and which engages a keyway 45 formed in the shaft 37 prevents rotation of the iron 34 when the nut 42 is rotated. It Will also be appreciated by those skilled in the art, that while only one means for adjusting the ironing pressure has been illustrated and described, any device capable of producing this result may also be employed.

The pad support assembly 16 includes a table 43 mounted atop an upwardly extending arm 49 which is pivoted at its lower end to the base 18 by a pin 59. The table 48 has a pair of longitudinally extending bracket members 50 adjacent each corner for supporting elongate rods 52 disposed along each end of the table 48. In addition, a pair of downwardly extending bracket members 54 are afiixed to each side of the pad 15 and each bracket member has an aperture 55 formed therein for engaging one of the rods 52. It can be seen with respect to FIG. 2, therefore, that the pad 15 may be slid on the rods 52 in a direction generally parallel to the transverse axis of the iron into and out of a position beneath the iron 34. In addition, as seen in FIG. 1, the pad 15 can be pivoted on the arm 49 and around the pin 50 so that various longitudinal sections thereof may be selectively moved in a direction generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the iron 34 and into and out of a position beneath the iron 34. Stop means, not shown, may be provided to limit the degree of this pivotal movement.

In order to insure that the pressure between the iron 34- and the pad 15 will be uniform regardless of the position of the arm 49', upper surface 57 of the pad 15 is arcuate in the longitudinal direction with its center of curvature coincident with the pin 50. In a similar manner, the lower surface 58 of the sole plate 35 may also have a longitudinal curvature complementary with that of the surface 57.

It will be appreciated that when the motor 23 is energized, the short arm 26 will rotate to cause eccentric movement of the lower end of the link 29 so that the lever 22 is made to oscillate rapidly thereby imparting a vibratory motion to the iron 34. These vibrations move the irons surface 53 into and out of pressing contact with the pads surface 57 at a rate which enables the operator to freely move the pad 15 laterally or to pivot the same about pin 50 so that a garment placed thereon may be ironed or pressed to the extent of the surface of the pad 15 or any part thereof. Thus, after a garment is arranged on the ironing board 15 in a desired manner, the pad may be moved laterally and longitudinally beneath the iron 34 to suit the ironing requirements of the garment being pressed.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show an alternate embodiment of the instant invention wherein the pad 15 is mounted on the table 48 by means of ball casters 59 so that it may be moved in any horizontal direction beneath the iron 34.

The pad 15' is prevented from moving off of the table 48' by means of a rail 60. Because the pad 15 moves only in a horizontal direction in the embodiment of FIGS. 3 and 4, its upper surface 57' as Well as the lower surface 58 of the iron sole plate 35 are planar. ment also illustrates that a board 56' may also be provided below the pad 15 to support surplus portions of the garment during a pressing or ironing operation.

A further embodiment of the instant invention is illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6 wherein the table 48 may pivot in any direction on the base 13" by means of a ball and socket pivot 50". As a result, both the upper surface 57" of the pad 15 and the lower surface 58" of the iron sole plate 35 are spherical sections.

While only a few embodiments of the instant invention have been shown and described, it is not intended to. be limited but only by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An ironing device comprising a base, an ironing member having longitudinal and transverse axes, a pad member disposed below said ironing member, .means for imparting vibratory motion to said ironing member for rapid movement thereof into and out of ironing contact with said pad member, support means for said pad member, said support means being movably mounted on said base for moving said pad member in a direction generally parallel to at least one of the longitudinal and transverse axes of said ironing member.

2. The device set forth in claim 1 wherein said support means is pivotally mounted on said base for pivotal movement transversely of said ironing member.

3. The device set forth in claim 1 wherein said pad member is substantially larger than said ironing member, and said support means is mounted on said base for universal horizontal movement beneath said ironing membet.

4. The device set forth in claim 1 and including means for adjusting thecontact pressure between said ironing member and said pad member.

5. The device set forth in claim 1 wherein said pad member is substantially larger than said ironing member and said support means is pivotally mounted for movement longitudinally of said ironing member.

6. The device set forth in claim 5 wherein said pad member is also slidably mounted on said support means for sliding movement transversely of said ironing memher.

7. The device set forth in claim 5 wherein said pad member has an upper surface which is longitudinally This embodiarcuate about a center of curvature coincident with its pivotal axis.

8. A pressing and ironing device comprising a base portion, ironing means and pad means, means mounted on said base portion for supporting said ironing means above said pad means and for imparting vibratory motion to said ironing means, and arm means pivotallypad means.

9. A pressing and ironing device comprising a base portion, ironing means and pad means, means mounted on said base portion for supporting said ironing means above said pad means and for imparting vibratory motion to said ironing means, and arm means universallypivotally mounted on said base portion for supporting said pad means for pivotal movement longitudinally and transversely below said ironing means, so that said pad means is movable longitudinally and transversely of said ironing means as said ironing means vibrates into and out of pressing contact with said pad means.

10. A pressing and ironing device comprising a base portion, ironing means and pad'means, means mounted on said base portion for supporting said ironing means above said pad means and for imparting vibratory motion to said ironing means, generally planar table means mounted on said base portion below said ironing means, and roller means supporting said pad means for universal horizontal rolling movement below said ironing means so that said pad means is movable in any horizontal direction below said ironing means as said ironing means vibrates into and out of pressing contact with said pad means.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,554,511 9/1925 Leary 38-25 1,840,956 1/1932 Huebsch 3828 2,009,446 7/ 1935 Hanney 38-31 2,189,215 2/ 1940 Malott 28--3l JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

G. V. LARKIN, Examiner. 

1. AN IRONING DEVICE COMPRISING A BASE, AN IRONING MEMBER HAVING LONGITUDINAL AND TRANSVERSE AXES, A PAD MEMBER DISPOSED BELOW SAID IRONING MEMBER, MEANS FOR IMPARTING VIBRATORY MOTION TO SAID IRONING MEMBER FOR RAPID MOVEMENT THEREOF INTO AND OUT OF IRONING CONTACT WITH SAID PAD MEMBER, SUPPORT MEANS FOR SAID PAD MEMBER, SAID SUPPORT MEANS BEING MOVABLY MOUNTED ON SAID BASE FOR MOVING SAID PAD MEMBER IN A DIRECTION GENERALLY PARALLEL TO AT LEAST ONE OF THE LONGITUDINAL AND TRANSVERSE AXES OF SAID IRONING MEMBER. 